Two of Asheville’s leading creatives collaborate on original show

You know, cliches exist for a reason. And an announcement today confirmed the truth of this tired phrase: Birds of a feather flock together.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that flutist extraordinaire Kate Steinbeck and ballet guru Ann Dunn are collaborating on a brand new show May 17-18. I have had the pleasure of interviewing the both of them – separately – many times, and they are also two of my favorite profiles I have written for our Sunday Conversation series.

They are both committed to this community, extremely talented, as well as deeply, passionately creative. These birds boast quite the fabulous feathers.

Here are the details on the events:

Local Collaboration Produces International Premier

Two superwomen on the local arts scene join forces for a Copland extravaganza of live music and ballet. When you think chamber music, you think Kate Steinbeck with her premier chamber ensemble, Pan Harmonia, now in its 13th season. When you think ballet, you think Ann Dunn who has guided North Carolina’s oldest non-profit dance company, The Asheville Ballet, for 33 of its 50 years. The collaboration between these two women and organizations is the fruition of months of planning, creative thinking, and support from local sponsors and such organizations as The North Carolina Art Council.

On May 17-18 at 7:30 at The Diana Wortham Theatre, these two groups come together to perform a premier of Aaron Copland’s great work of classical Americana, Appalachian Spring. Dunn’s original ballet is called, An Appalachian Romance, and is based on the Romeo and Juliet story, but set in our own mountains outside of Asheville between two feuding families. Steinbeck has chosen Copland’s original score, with its lovely “Simple Gifts” section. Caleb Young, originally from Hendersonville but currently from Atlanta and Bloomington, IN will conduct this historical premier. The young lovers will be danced by local favorites, Lyle Laney, Associate Artistic Director, and Alyssa Belcher.

Also featured on the program are scenes from the greatest classical ballet, Swan Lake, staged by Laney, and Vivaldi’s rousing, spiritually uplifting work, Lauda Jerusalem, choreographed by internationally renowned Rick McCullough.

I thought I would also re-share the beginnings of each of Ann and Kate’s profiles to give you a bit more color (and gave me an excuse give these greatest hits another spin for totally selfish, personal reasons).

Meet Ann:

Ann Dunn’s dreams come as poetry, and when she hears music, the notes are dancers in her mind. She’s a slave to her muse’s whims, but her creative spirit is matched by a practical intelligence.

It’s a mental version of the same graceful balancing act she accomplishes with her toes dancing on stage. Over the past 30 years, these talents have helped established Dunn — a dancer, educator and poet — as a leader of Asheville’s dance community.

“I’m pretty much always on,” Dunn said. “But I like it that way. That is relaxing to me. Not having anything to do is not relaxing.”

Not having anything to do is not a problem for Dunn, who admits her life is pretty much scheduled down to the hour.

She spends her mornings teaching a medieval and Renaissance humanities course at UNC Asheville, a position she’s held since 1992. Her afternoons are spent split between her two families, she said: Her children, grandchildren and parents, and the Asheville Academy of Ballet and Contemporary Dance and Asheville Ballet, which she owns and directs.

And say “hi” to Kate:

Time is love. It has to be for flutist Kate Steinbeck, because she regards time as our most precious limited resource.

“When I’m up on stage performing,” she said, “it is me giving the audience my time. And giving you my time is giving you my love.”

But Steinbeck’s respect of time’s true meaning doesn’t result in a rushed existence — or a paralyzing fear of when the clock will stop ticking.

Time’s value instead informs her teaching style. She must honor her students’ prized time with her utmost devotion to their progress.

As artistic director and founder of Pan Harmonia, formerly called Keowee Chamber Music, it makes her cherish every eclectic note in the group’s 11th annual festival, starting Thursday.

Most important, time heightens Steinbeck’s daily perspective, ensuring that she keeps her family life balanced with her ever-growing work schedule, now further occupied with launching the Asheville Chamber Music Institute at UNC Asheville, a weeklong exploration for adult amateur musicians in June.

“With children, you get a sense of the passing of time,” said Steinbeck, mother of son Galen Abell, 14, and daughter Charlie Abell, 11. “When Charlie was 3, we were playing in the backyard, and she said, ‘I have never had this day before.’

“It was a poignant reminder of the uniqueness of each day. As adults, we tend to forget this, but for a young child everything is new and fresh,” she said.

“Also, that moment was a reminder of the brevity of life and our time here,” she continued. “Being aware of that helps me strive to add beauty to this world. Maybe, just maybe it will offset all the darkness a wee bit.

“My children inspire me along that path. I want to be able to look back and know I did what I could to bring love and light, of which I think playing music is good expression.”